“Cheesy” Detox Vegan Vegetable Soup (GF)

Coming at ya with a “Cheesy” Detox Vegan Vegetable Soup, and before you roll your eyes at me, I have good reason for this recipe name. Sort of.

“Cheesy” because this soup tastes cheesy without cheese. Also “cheesy” because I feel super cheesy using the word “detox” and I’ve used it in 2 recipes now. I’m really not one for labels . . . even calling out that this soup is “gluten free” and “vegan” basically gives me the willies. It’s not that I have anything against these labels (opposite, in fact), it’s just that I prefer eating sans label. I mean, what if I want to make this next week but I decide to add cheese and croutons?! I’ll feel like I can’t because the recipe says “vegan” and “gluten free” and “cheesy” and if I add real cheese, than what does the “cheesy” part even mean?! And all of a sudden, my soup has become both a semantic and ethical dilemma that I’ll agonize over long enough to give up and order pizza.

But if I don’t use some sort of descriptors, all I’m left with is “Vegetable Soup without Cheese that Tastes Cheesy, but It’s Not, and Oh Yeah It has A LOT of Veggies So It’s Better than Eating Pizza Soup.” But then people will be like, what’s pizza soup? I want some. Or not. Or I could just have named it by the ingredients: Carrot Onion Celery Garlic Broccoli Cauliflower Broth Mustard Hot Sauce Nutritional Yeast Lemon Hemp Heart Salt and Pepper Soup. That might catch on?

And this is what it’s like in my brain. On a good day.

OK, so I’m bad at naming recipes, but I’m sorta good at creating them or at least experimenting enough times til something sticks. And this one does. It’s delicious. And detoxifying. I sounded totally natural there, didn’t I? OK, whatever, it’s chalk full of veggies and supes delish. You’ll feel totally boss healthy eating it all week long, you detoxinista, you.

Wondering how we get all this cheesy without all the cheese? Nutritional yeast is how we make this detox vegan vegetable soup cheesy. If ya been here before, ya’all know I love me some cheese, but we can’t be having cheese morning, noon, and night (or can we). So, we use nutritional yeast for it’s nutty, cheesy flavor, as well as health benefits like protein and B vitamins.

Remove 1–2 cups of vegetables from pot (depending how smooth or textured you prefer your soup); set aside and reserve.

Add all other ingredients to pot besides lemon juice; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook, uncovered for 20 minutes.

Using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth (alternatively, blend in batches in standard blender). Add reserved vegetables and simmer until heated through and tender. Lastly, stir in fresh lemon juice. Season with S&P and adjust according to preference.